


When did you stop loving me?

by whiffingbooks



Series: These prompts keep pulling me in [17]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Heavy Angst, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:49:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28631298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiffingbooks/pseuds/whiffingbooks
Summary: Prompt – When did you stop loving me?AU where Harry swaps places with Harry from another dimension and is discovered by his wife – ex-girlfriend from that dimension – Ginny.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Series: These prompts keep pulling me in [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859185
Comments: 10
Kudos: 26





	When did you stop loving me?

"Stop! Ginny, it's me - Harry!"

Harry cast a shield in front of him that absorbed her Bat-Bogey Hex. She didn't back down though. Instead, she yelled " _Stupefy!_ " and his shield shattered when her strong spell impacted against it.

"Ginny, stop! It's me!"

"No!" Her eyes were wild with fury and fear. "No! I knew something was wrong when you broke things off with Susan. But I thought -" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'll find out who you really are."

He reacted on instinct; he pointed his wand and shouted, " _Expelliarmus!_ ". Ginny's wand went flying. She didn't stumble. Immediately, she dropped to the ground and threw her leg out, sweeping his feet from under him. He fell, his back hitting the hard ground.

"Fuck," he muttered. He felt Ginny swipe his wand away from him.

"Stop." He sat up, but she put her foot on top of his chest.

"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't blow your fucking brains out." She was panting, his wand steady in her hand. Although he knew she wasn't his Ginny, he felt affection bloom at her deadly stare.

Of course, Ginny Weasley could jump a full-fledged Auror.

"I'm Harry Potter." She raised his wand. "Wait! I'm from another dimension!"

He cursed himself. Now, she was going to stun him and drag him to the Ministry or St Mungos.

But she didn't.

"What?" Ginny frowned. She didn't lower the wand. "What the hell are you on about?"

"I'm Harry. I'm telling the truth. You believe that?" Impossible. Ginny was the last person to listen to reason when he was in danger. His alternate dimension self must have been hexed a thousand times by his wife already.

 _I hope she knocked his brains out if he tried to kiss her_ , he thought darkly.

"Not really. What's getting me is that you have the same mannerisms. You walk and talk the same way. Unless a Death Eater spent the last five years reading everything about you, I don't think he would be able to pull it off this well. Not impossible though. Tell me, why should I believe you?"

He thought fast and came up with the one answer no Death Eater would give. "Because you used to put your hand in butter when you saw me," he blurted out.

Ginny gasped, the wand slipping from her fingers.

"How do you --"

"I'm Harry Potter from another dimension. I need your help getting back. Please." He held his breath. She stared at him for a long time, studying his face intently. At last, she straightened and nodded.

"I believe that you're not a Death Eater. I need more proof." She frowned at him. "Let's go back to my place. Hand me both of the wands and we'll see."

* * *

"Why did you have to mess around with an Unspeakable?"

Their cups of tea had emptied a while ago. Ginny had calmed down a lot since they arrived at her place. She was pacing back and forth in her living room, his wand handed over to him a long time ago. He was unscathed except for his back that had a bruise from being tackled down earlier.

"It was an Auror raid gone wrong. I didn't know that it was going to end up like this." He stood up, pleased to see her no longer treating him with suspicion. Took them only three hours. "Ginny, I need your help."

"What happened to this dimension's Harry?" She didn't face him, but her shoulders were tense.

"He's probably in the other dimension, getting whacked by my wife if I know her well." He smiled.

She turned around. He was a bit startled to see a look of vulnerability in her eyes.

"And, in your universe, we're..." she gestured the two of them, "together?"

"Married, yes. I told you. I've been married to you for a year. We've been together for, uh, four years now?" He counted. "Yes, four years."

"Oh. You kind of gave yourself away like that. You stared at me a lot during dinner." She pointed her wand at the table and vanished the cups. Ginny's house was sweet, but it lacked the homeliness that clung his and his wife's place in his world. He would chalk it up to this Ginny living alone, although their home was usually decorated by his wife.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. It's that you look exactly like her. Except," he pointed at her hand, "she has more freckles and a scar on her right hand."

He swallowed the lump in his throat. He missed his Ginny with all his heart. Somehow, even though this world's Ginny resembled his wife, he couldn't think of her as his. He had stared at her in the weekly dinners, but usually, he compared the two of them in his head. This Ginny was beautiful, but he missed his wife's unreserved laughs, her easy smiles and especially the loving gaze with which she used to stare at him whenever he tried to do something for her.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said earnestly. "I can't imagine what you must be going through."

"I didn't want to break things off with Susan." He felt slightly guilty about doing that. "I got the feeling they were close to ending it anyway."

She shook her head. "Harry wouldn't have. He loves her." Her eyes turned sad, the way they usually did whenever he tried to talk to her about relationships or the past.

"Well, she didn't love him. I thought you'd be elated."

"Elated? Why?" She sat down on the sofa, gesturing beside her for him to sit down. He declined the offer.

"I thought he was the one who pulled something dramatic and broke it off with you? Now, you have no one else coming in between." He wasn't used to speaking so frankly, but something about this Ginny's reservation when it came to hers and Harry's relationship was rubbing him the wrong way.

"We didn't break up because of someone else," she said stiffly, looking ready to bolt.

"Oh, really? So, was it because you stopped loving each other?" She kept quiet. "Okay. When did you stop loving me?"

"Him. You both are not the same person." She didn't look at him. He was not going to let her get away.

"I know that. That's why I married the woman I love. I don't understand why would..."

"Have you," her voice dipped, "ever considered that maybe love isn't all there is? That being in love is not a good reason for holding onto each other?" Her eyes met his and his words died when he saw them filled with anguish and pain. "Not being in love was the last reason why everything fell apart and you're being a dick right now."

For a while, there was only silence. Finally, he backed down. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed."

"I get that you want answers. But not all stories are yours to hear." She looked away. Staring outside the small window, she spoke, "I want you to go now. Next time we meet up, we will only discuss how to get you two Harrys back in your dimensions. Now, please go."

He stood up. Slowly, he put on his coat, wanting Ginny to look at him, but she never did. Sighing, he headed towards the door, but before leaving, he turned around for the last time.

"You're unhappy." She flinched. "I can see it. My wife - that's you in my dimension - is a smart, brave woman who tells me that if you want something badly enough, you do everything for it." He shrugged. "I'm sorry for prying, but I think you want it badly and if he doesn't, he doesn't deserve you shedding tears for him."

As he left, he couldn't help but feel like he was leaving behind a fifteen-year-old Ginny, about to go after Voldemort. Her face held the same devastation it had held then too when he was too obtuse and blind to know every single part of her. This Ginny sat staring at the same point on the window, her shoulders drooping with an unexplained burden.

He quickly Apparated away, eager to replace her haunting eyes and shadows on her face with his happy memories of his wife.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [whiffingbooks](https://whiffingbooks.tumblr.com/)


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